Process of extracting metals from their ores.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CALEB G. COLLINS, OF WOODSBURG, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CALVIN AMORY STEVENS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PROCESS OF EXTRACTING METALS FROM THEIR O RES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 648,354, dated April 24, 1900.

Application filed September 8, 1898. Serial No. 690,466. (No specimensh To all whom zit/may concern.-

Be it known thatI, CALEB G. COLLINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Woodsburg,in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Extractlowing is a specification sufficient to enable others skilled in the art to which the invention appertainsto make and use the same.

The object of this invention is to provide 3 a simple and economical method of treating; natural carbonates," hydrates, .chlorids, and

sulfids of the-metals, particularly those of copper, silver, nickel, and cobalt, in such manner as to obtain the compounds of these metals in a highly-concentrated form for subsequent treatment in any of thewell-known ways suited to the particular compoundor} metal to be reduced to the metallic state. Primarily my invention consists in placing powdered ore ina solutionof an ammonium salt and then decomposing the ammonium salt in the presence of ore by the addition to the solution of a powerful alkali.

I It alsoconsists' in treating unusually-re fractory ores by the addition to the solution of a hypochlorite of an alkali.

Incidentally the invention includes the precipitation of the metal by the addition of an alkali-metal silicate, as hereinafter set forth.

By way of illustration in the case of carbonates, hydrates, or chlorids of copper or silver or compound hydrates and carbonates of these metals I mix finely-ground ore with a solution of an ammonium salt in water,

using for this purpose the sulfate, chlorid,

nitrate, or acetate of ammonium, as may be convenient, and in quantity according to the amount of metal in the ore, and then add to the mixture so made enough calcium hydrate, Ca(OH) or barium hydrate, Ba(OH) onpotassium or sodium hydrate previously stirred up with a little water to decompose the ammonium salt in the solution,which ammonium set free from previous combination in immediate presence of the finely-powdered ore attacks the metal compounds in the ore with much more enery than when aqua-ammonia is used, however strong it may be.

For an ore containing, say, three per cent.

of copper in the form of melaconite, (OuO,) or

in the form of cuprite, (Gu20,)or in malachite, CuCo +Cu(0H) or in the form of azurite, 20uCO3+Ou(OH),, I use for each two thousand pounds of the powdered ore from one hundred and ten to one hundred and thirty pounds of ammonium sulfate previously dissolved in one thousand pounds of Water and then add from ninety to onehundred pounds of quicklime previously slacked in four hundred pounds of water, and then give the mixture a most thorough stirring for one hour or less and run the whole through a filter in the usual way or through a continuous centrifugal fil-z ter,where the solution is drained oif-and the precipitate Washed before leaving the centrif= ugal. y M y The resulting ammonium solution of copper 'canbe treated with sodium pentasulfid for precipitation of the copper as copper sulfid, or the copper can be separated in the metallic state from its solution by electrolysis,

4(NI-I4) CllO N sno, Aq

4CuSiO +2NaOH Aq SNI-l 3H,O. Of course in treating any one of the copper ores before named with an ammonium salt.

and a fixed alkali the proportions of the aim monium compound and the alkali used must vary not only with the amount of copper in the ore, but with the nature of the ammonium salt and alkali used. Thus for every 63.1 parts of copper in the ore there will be required for its extraction one hundred and thirty-two parts,by weight,of ammonium sulfate and fifty-six parts of quicklime, should ammonium sulfate and quicklime be the forms of ammonium salt and alkali used;

but as the ammonium is recovered and used one hundred and seven'partsof the ammo-v nium chlorid and eighty parts of caustic soda, 'Weighedbefore dissolving-it, or ifammonium 1o nitrate and caustic baryta were used "then Q vto each 63.1 parts'of-c opper inlthe orewould be required-'one'h'undred andsixtypartsof ammonium. nitrate and". 170. 8 parts barium 3 hydrate, or if barium is'replaced by'li'm'ethe'n Y J T5 7, r

four partsrof lime l1ydr'ate Ca('OH) willan J "swer to set the ammonium free from the one hundred and sixty parts "of iamnioniurn'fhi-tl trate, thoi igh;in some cases oriwithlparticulaiil inds of or'e'sthe bari-uin hydrate works better, 1 than lime, a ndasIthe baryta can'geasily andv cheaply be recovered in theform offibarium I a sl tyt. ld 'i lPbCll n state Y Y a 4, fi i heede .andi mme"pa:

' o gether'withlh lithe-weightofgthe orefof. j ter, is addedftothe oreand the whole stir I togetherfor aboutan hour or less by-m'cans 1 a I of any suitable mechanism. f- This operation diumoxid (Na) produced uniting with water as quickly as the maid is evolved to give an equivalent of sodium hydrate (2NaOH. After the mixing of the Water, ore, and other ingredients in the Way described the whole is allowed to cool in case heat has beehused,"

fifty-sixparts'of quick-lime (OaO) orseventyy I 5 sulfate, ,valuable'for painting, itmakes'litfle difiere'nce asto'cost whether bai yta'f'or :li me? the used, and-as' the' nitric can b s maybe conducted at, common temperatures h may be applied, which latter condi-g PbS203' P-bOl2 Na20 2NaCl, the sov and then to each two hundred and sixteen parts of actual silver contained in the ore is i added one hundred andtwo parts of strong water of ammonia of 26 strength,0r an equivalent amount of ammonium salt, together with sufficient calcium or barium or sodium hydrate 'to' decompose the ammonium sa1t,'1s

"added to the ore mixture,'together with an additional amountof water in quantity equal Ito the weight of the ore,.and then the stirring 'or'agitationofi theflwhole mixture, is recommjenced and'contihned fori about an hour or 1ess,'after which the mass is drained of its sol ublecon'tenis by simple filtering and wash ingior by meansof a centrifngalfilter;" The solution, sofobtained 'Will,jifi-the operations 'havejbeen conducted as. desoribed,",.coi1tain {practically all of the silver was in the ore," and from? this ammoniacal' solution the silver maybe. precipitated by electrolysis or .byftheuseof a soluble sulfi'd or by a soluble silicate, i and the ammoniumrecovered to be used" over again andthe. i'mpuretprecipitated silverhre fin'ed:byany of the well9known processes;

orite ;t o theain mohia;water or ammoalkalinjehydra'te,hy-

d ;for; one hour or u'tjion so produced afterward-withythe ammonium. In {operatre, the ore'yfin'ely pow- V decomposition and sotion' to ea" h {63 5-11} artsof': copper} found to be'infthel:ore thirty two parts of" common bleachingpowderg'fwhich is 'an impure cal.-

dered, requires'for 1 iciiim hypochlorite .j(;cao1,,-o+oac1, and one hundred andjtwenty seven parts of ferrous 1 ,chlorid, ,(FeCl .;thejcalc ium 'hypoch'lorite' in "this reaction" appearing-toact aseither a carrier of chlori'n fromctheiron' co the copper or mereIy acting -catalyticall y or by' contact. At an'ylrate jthe "relatively-small amount of hypochlorite required to, promote s'olutionof the copper would appear'tosupport this View. The'precipitation of the copper and recovery of the ammonium from the solution obtained from the sul-fid'ore is conducted the same as before described for solution obtained from other ores of copper.- i

This process can be appliedv with slight modifications to the treatment of nickel and cobalt ores for the extraction of these metals.

v My improved process is economical because loridjbeingui-ixed all Whenit'comestotreatnientofcopper-sn1fid hesilm'ple addition o fa"soluble' alkaline i a. 4, alt an d calcium ,"barium, or 7 sodium eciIp tated fand the ammo- 'redescribed;or the What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The process herein set forth of extracting metals from their ores consisting in dissolving out or extracting metal from the powdered ore by means of a'solution of ammonium salt in the presence of an alkaline base capable of decomposing the ammonium salt,

substantially as described.

2. The process herein set forth of extractlng metals from extra-refractory ores consisting in dissolving out or extracting the metal from the powdered ore by means of a solution containing ammonium salt, an alkaline base capable of decomposing the ammonium salt and a hypochlorite of an alkali metal, substantially as described.

3. The process herein set forth of extracting metals from their ores consisting in dissolving out or extracting the metal from the powdered ore by means of a solution of ammonium salt in the presence of an alkali base capable of decomposing the ammonium salt, and then precipitating the metal by the addition of a solution of an alkali metal, substantially as described.

CALEB e. COLLINS,

Witnesses:

' D. W. GARDNER,

GEo. WM. MIATT. 

